which is called the qiblah because people turn toward it and because the worshipper stands facing it. Allah says, “So turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque; and wherever you may be, turn your faces toward it” (2:144).

If someone is so close to the Kaʿbah that he can see it, he must align his entire body with the very structure itself, for he is unquestionably able to face its exact location; therefore it is impermissible for him to turn elsewhere. If he is near but cannot see it because a barrier blocks his view, he must exert his utmost to hit its mark and orient himself toward it as best he can. Anyone who is far from the Kaʿbah, in whatever quarter of the earth he may be, must in his prayer face the general direction in which the Kaʿbah lies; a slight leaning to the right or to the left is inconsequential, in light of the ḥadith, “What lies between the east and the west is qiblah,” which al-Tirmidhī declared sound and which has been related by more than one Companion. This statement concerns the people of Madinah and every place that shares its alignment; the same principle applies everywhere else. Thus, someone situated to the east has his qiblah somewhere between south and north, and the same holds for one in the west.

Accordingly, prayer is invalid unless one faces the qiblah, for Allah says, “Wherever you may be, turn your faces toward it”—be you on land, in the air, at sea, in the east, or in the west.